Experimental Particle Physics with Electronic Detectors

这项建议是为了资助一个研究项目，通过轻子(特别是电子和正电子)与质子的碰撞来研究物质的组成结构。这项实验是由PSU的物理学家和合作者使用德国汉堡DESY实验室HERA加速器的宙斯探测器完成的。本实验是对318GeV质心能量下电子/正电子-质子深度非弹性散射(DIS)碰撞的研究。这项实验的主要目的是在最高可用交换光子虚度(Q平方高达90,000 GeV^2)下研究DIS，以便探测到距离10^(-18)厘米的电子和夸克子子结构，并寻找新的受激发轻子和夸克家族，指示超出标准模型的物理。PSU小组希望研究重夸克的产生以及随着极化电子和正电子的出现而可能观察到的高Q平方的电弱性质。此外，PSU小组已被邀请参加宇宙线实验(COALL)，以确定“膝”能量范围内的能谱和初级粒子化学成分，即宇宙射线初级能量为10^15至10^16 eV。该实验将使用表面闪烁计数器阵列和地下Muon漂移室系统同时测定宇宙线空气簇射的电子/光子和Muon成分，其中Muon动量截止约为70GeV。更广泛的影响教育/外展活动包括在暑假带两名REU学生参加宙斯实验。该小组还将与欧洲核子研究中心的一个小组一起参与宇宙射线“学校”的工作，该小组已经处于高级规划阶段，该小组正在与杜塞尔多夫的学校合作。

This is a proposal to fund a research program to investigate the constituent structure of matter by colliding leptons (specifically electrons and positrons) with protons.The experiment is being done by physicists from PSU and collaborators using the ZEUS detector at the HERA accelerator of the DESY laboratory in Hamburg, Germany. This experiment is a study of electron/positron-proton deep inelastic scattering (DIS) collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 318 GeV. Intellectual Merit The primary aim of the experiment is the study of DIS at the highest available exchanged photon virtualities (Q-squared up to 90,000 GeV^2), in order to probe electron and quark substructure down to distances of 10^(-18) cm, and to search for new families of excited leptons and quarks indicative of physics beyond the Standard Model. The PSU group expects to study heavy quark production as well as the electroweak properties at high Q-squared that could be observed with the advent of polarized electrons and positrons.In addition, the PSU group has been invited to participate in a cosmic ray experiment (CORAL) to determine the energy spectrum and primary particle chemical composition in the energy range of the "knee", i.e., cosmic ray primary energies of 10^15 to 10^16 eV. The experiment will involve the simultaneous determination of both the electron/photon and muon components of cosmic ray air showers, using a surface array of scintillation counters and an underground muon drift chamber system, where the muon momentum cutoff is about 70 GeV. Broader ImpactsEducation/outreach activities include taking typically two REU students to work on the ZEUS experiment in the summers. The group will also participate in the cosmic ray "school" effort already in an advanced planning stage with a group at CERN that is working with the schools in Dusseldorf.